Elizabeth Smart regains ‘ownership over my story’ in Netflix documentary ‘Kidnapped’

Elizabeth Smart was 14 years old when a man pressed a knife to her throat and abducted her from her bedroom in Salt Lake City. More than two decades later, she recounts those nine months in captivity in a new Netflix documentary that premiered Wednesday.

“Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart,” directed by Benedict Sanderson, features Ms. Smart recounting her 2002 abduction by Brian David Mitchell and the investigation that captivated the nation.

The documentary revisits chilling details from the night of June 5, 2002. Ms. Smart recalls Mitchell warning her, “I have a knife at your neck. Don’t make a sound. Get up and come with me,” according to TV Insider.

When she asked whether he was going to rape and kill her, Mitchell replied, “I’m not going to rape and kill you yet,” according to the documentary.

A review in The New York Times said the film examines what it described as the “depraved religious fanaticism” of Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, who held Ms. Smart captive in a tent in the Utah mountains. In the documentary, Ms. Smart describes how Mitchell told her he was sealing her to him as his wife “before God and his angels as my witnesses” before raping her, according to TIME.

Ms. Smart also explains why she did not call for help during a now-infamous encounter in a library, where a detective questioned the trio while she was disguised.

“I was 14. I had been extremely abused for months,” Ms. Smart says, according to TV Insider. “When I disobeyed, I was raped. Food was withheld from me.”

The film highlights the critical role of Ms. Smart’s younger sister, Mary Katherine Smart, who was 9 years old and in the bedroom during the kidnapping. She later recognized the voice of the kidnapper as Mitchell, a handyman who had previously worked at the family’s home.

In an interview with TODAY, Ms. Smart called her sister her hero “She saved me,” she said. “Had she not remembered who had kidnapped me, who’s to say that I would be here today? The police all had their suspects, and my captor I don’t even think was on their radar at all.”

According to TIME, the Smart family eventually released a police sketch of Mitchell on their own after becoming frustrated with the pace of the investigation. The sketch prompted a tip from Mitchell’s brother-in-law that proved critical to the case.

Ms. Smart was rescued on March 12, 2003, after bystanders spotted Mitchell and Barzee walking with her along a highway in Sandy, Utah, and contacted police after recognizing them from “America’s Most Wanted.” When an officer asked her to identify herself, Ms. Smart replied, “Thou sayeth,” according to TV Insider.

Mitchell was later convicted of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity and is serving a life sentence. Barzee pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She was released in 2018 but was arrested in May 2025 for violating sex offender restrictions by visiting two Salt Lake City parks.

Now 38, Ms. Smart is married to Matthew Gilmour and has three children. She is the founder of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which advocates for survivors of sexual violence.

Ms. Smart told Netflix’s Tudum that she chose to participate in the documentary to reclaim her story and offer hope to others. “I wanted to have some ownership over my story,” she said. “I also hope it brings comfort that there are happy endings — and that even after terrible things happen, you can still have a wonderful life.”

The documentary also features interviews with Mary Katherine Smart, Ms. Smart’s father, Ed Smart, investigators, and reporters who covered the case. Ms. Smart’s mother, Mrs. Lois Smart, declined to participate, according to Tudum.